Typewriter front feed attachment



June 23, 1953 J KAVANAUGH 2,642,975

TYPEWRITER FRONT FEED ATTACHMENT Filed April 17, 1952 2 SheetsSheet l INVENTOR. FL YD J. KA ANA B flTTORNEYS F. J. KAVANAUGH TYPEWRITER FRONT FEED ATTACHMENT June 23, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 17, 1952 JNVENTOR. FLOY J. JSAVANA H 2 ATTORNEYS Patented June 23, 1953 TXPEWRITERL FRONT FEED ATTAGHMENT' Floyd Ji Kavanaugh, Galveston, Tex-;,.assignor oil fifty per cent to Clan-1:18;: Courts Investment.

Comp y; H us n, Tex-t Application April" 17, l95 2; Seri'al'No. 282,739?

This invention relates" to an attachment for typewriters whereby a standard back feed typewriter may be converted to a front feed type.

It has been the practice inthe past inmaking out bank drafts to place the draft in thetypewriter and complete same, then remove the draft and insert a ledger sheet onwhich the record of the draft is made for purposes of records in the bank. This has proven to-bea slow and tiresome method and makes for possible errors between the actual draft and the ledger sheet, since the data on the ledger sheet is copied from the draft. In order to simplify this'procedure and to eliminate discrepancies between the draft and ledger sheet the deviceof the present invention was conceived.

In view of the above one object of this invention is to provide an attachment for typewriters which makes it' possible to use the machine as a front feed device, notably for the making of bank drafts and at the same time producing on a ledger'sheet a carbon copy of the data on the draft.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a typewriter attachment having adraft carrying means with a number of steppedpockets therein so as to make it possible to write on several vertically spaced horizontal lines on the draft and yet have this data recorded on a single line of a ledger sheet;

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be brought out in the following specification and drawings; wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the attachment shown. mounted on a typewriter and indicating the positions of the ledger sheet, bank draft and draft carrying means;

Fig; 2 is asection taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1 showing details of the attachment and the manner in which the flexible bank draftcarrying means is related to the attachment and to the; typewriter platen;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the attachment partly in longitudinal vertical section and showingdetails of the adjustable anchoring device for: the draft carrying means;

Fig aisalleft end elevationof theattachment sllOWil'igfurther details of. the anchoring device for thedraftcarrying means and Fig, 5 is aperspective of aslide: member shown in section: in Fig. 3.

Briefly, this invention comprises an upstanding base plate with means on. same for attachment to a suitable portion of the typewriter-carriage, a clamp and guide assembly on thefor- 6 Claims; (Cl.'.1 917;--128):

ward face: 01 the: base. a: guide and anchoring means on the rear face of the base, and a flexibledouble'pocketed' bank draft carrying means secured by the aforementioned anchoring means and extending from it over. the upper edge of thebase plate and passed between the base plate and the clamp; means.

As shown in Fig. 1', thezattaehment base plate lfiacarries: along itsu-pper edge a clamp and guide assembly: H comprising'a; U-s'haped bracket I2, adapted to fitdown over the upper edge; of the base plate I0; carrying; apair. of. longitudinally spaced; depending arms M" mounting; a cross-rod l5 wit-h roller liS thereon: between their lower extremities. A clamping: bar It! is rotatably and eccentrically mounted between the, inner ends of arms I4 and maybe rotated by means of lever I81 secured to one end. of bar H; A coil spring I3 is; used to bias. the. clamping bar into the open position. as shown in- Fig. 2.

On therear face, ofi base Ii! there is mounted a guide and: anchoring assembly [9: which as shown in Fig." 3.-comprises a. pair of brackets 20 and 2 having anaanchoring'rod' 22 carried there between. Anchoring: rod 22 has a recessed portion 23s nearone end: and a: portion 24 of reduced diameter atthe other end, both. of which are adaptedto cooperate; with openings; inthe upstanding flange: sections 21, 28 of brackets 20 and 2|.

Flange 2112' has-achannelli extending throughout; its. length and carries a slide member 26 therein. As shown: in Figzfij slide member 26 has a; longitudinal slot 2.92 and an aperture 38;.

In Fig; 3. slide 216:, is. shown positioned in channel 2.5 with; the. end 241 of. rod 22 extending through aperture 39 in slide 26. Access to this opening is: provided by slot 31; in the flange 21 of bracket 20. The head of bolt 32 extends through a hole 33 in flange 21 and engages the slide 25 while the shank of the bolt passes throughslot- 29'- in slide 26 and mounts locking nut 34*. This construction permits limited vertical adjustment of theright end of anchoring rod 22.

Bracket 21 has an upstanding flange 28 with an angular-slot 35 as shown in Fig. 2 adapted to .receiverecessed portion 23of rod 22. A locking clamp 31 having a notch 38 is pivotally mounted bymeans ofscrew 39 on flange 28, as shown in Fig. 4 Looking clamp 3! acts to retain the end portion of rod 22' in position in angular slot-35.

Bank draftcarrier 40' as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises a flexible sheethaving a looped end 42 and a pair of pockets 42 and 43 of different depths at the opposite end.

In these figures draft carrier 40 is shown being retained in normal position by anchor rod 22 which is passed through loop portion 4| of draft carrier 40. The draft carrier 40, as in Fig. 3, passes up between the flanges 21 and 28 of brackets 20 and 2|, over the top edge of base l0, under clamping bar ll, down between arms I, under and around platen 44. The draft carrier is held in proximity to the forward face of the platen by spring clips 45.

The whole attachment is secured to the typewriter carriage in any suitable manner depending on the particular typewriter construction. In the specific case, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the attachment is secured to a channel member 46 of the typewriter carriage through an angular bracket 41 secured to base l0. Diagonal strut members 48 are also used to strengthen this arrangement. The typewriter shown in the various figures of the drawings includes the ordinary platen 44 having actuating knobs 50 on each end thereof, a cross-rod 51 having rollers 52 for holdi ing the paper in contact with the platen, and a spacer-operating lever 53 .for spacedly feeding the paper through the typewriter.

A ledger sheet 56 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 wherein it is passed under and around the platen 44 and under rollers 5| in the manner of a sheet for normal typing. This ledger sheet is ruled in a number of vertical columns designated as: name of payee, name of purchaser, amount of draft, number of draft and other-information.

In Fig. 1, a draft 8!] is shown positioned in the deeper pocket 42 of draft carrier 40.

In using this attachment, the draft carrier is positioned on the attachment by removing anchoring rod 22 from between brackets 20 and 2|, passing the rod through loop 4| of the draft carrier 40 and then replacing the rod between the aforesaid brackets as shown in Fig. 3. The draft carrier is then led upwardly between flanges 21 and 28 of brackets 28 and 21, up and over the upper edge of base l0, down between the clamping bar I! and bracket l2, as shown in Fig. 2, then downwardly between arms l4 and under and around the platen 44, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Next the ledger sheet 56 is inserted by passing the upper edge down under the back side of the platen 44 between the platen and the draft carrier 40 and then rotating the platen so as to feed the ledger sheet forward until it assumes a position with its upper end slightly above the end of carrier 40. With the draft carrier and ledger sheet in such position the attachment is ready for use.

When the operator desires to make out a draft, it and its accompanying carbon are inserted in the deeper pocket 42 of draft carrier 40 and aligned with the proper line on the ledger sheet. Alignment of the proper line on the draft with the desired line on ledger sheet is accomplished by relative movement of the ledger sheet with respect to the draft carrier. For this purpose, lever is used to rotate clamping bar ll so as to hold the draft carrier between the face of clamping bar I! and bracket [2 and thereby prevent movement of same. With the draft carrier so held, the platen 44 is rotated to feed the ledger sheet forward until proper alignment between draft and ledger sheet is obtained. When these two are properly aligned the clamping bar I! is released and the platen rotated in reverse so as to feed the draft carrier carrying the draft, and the ledger sheet downwardly together to a position so that the information may be typed on the proper line of the draft. This reverse movement of the platen effects a front feed of the draft form onto the forward face of the platen.

In some instances the drafts are so designed that the names of the payee and the purchaser are not on the same line. To take care of this and make it possible to type the data on a single line on the ledger sheet, the draft carrier is furnished with a series of pockets of different depths to equalize these variations in the draft. In using a draft having such a form, the initial procedure as noted above is followed in typing in the data on the uppermost line of the draft, after which the platen is rotated so as to feed the draft carrier and ledger sheet upwardly, keeping both in register with each other. The draft is then removed from deep pocket 42 and placed in shallow pocket 43 of the draft carrier, the proper pocket depth having been previously determined, so that the other line upon which data is to be typed on the draft is automatically in alignment with the initial line of data on the ledger sheet. The platen is rotated backwardly as before to allow the typing of the data on the draft, after which the platen is rotated forwardly to feed the draft carrier and ledger sheet upwardly whereupon the draft is removed.

In general, it is convenient to have the information on the drafts so spaced with respect to vertical columns on the ledger sheet that it is not necessary to traverse the draft with respect to the ledger sheet in order to bring the proper column into registration with data on the draft. However, this is not essential as the draft may be properly aligned horizontally by hand when inserting the same in the pocket of the draft carrier.

From the above, it is apparent that this device enables an operator to neatly and accurately type information on a draft and a ledger sheet simultaneously and eliminate the necessity of withdrawing the ledger; sheet from the typewriter in preparing bank drafts, until the sheet is filled.

The specific embodiment described above is not to be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. It would appear obvious that the device disclosed would be equally adaptable for front feeding all types of sheets or similar items. It should also be noted that the draft carrying means may have any number of pockets therein; either of varying depths or of the same depth. From this it is apparent that data may be typed on a number of sheets simultaneously by using these pockets. And further, if it should happen that these sheets have different distances from their lower edges to the line on which it is desired to record this data, the pockets may be adjusted in depth so as to equalize these distance variations so that the data will appear on the proper location on each sheet.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a typewriter having a transversely moving carriage with a rotating platen, a front feed attachment comprising a flexible sheet-carrying means extending around the platen and having pockets in its forward and adapted to carry sheets for front feeding and means mounted on the typewriter carriage for anchoring the trailing end of said sheet-carrying means and determining the fully extended position of said sheet-carrying means whereby the pockets thereof are disposed in front feed position with respect to said laten.

2. lhe combination as described in claim 1 wherein the pockets in the flexible sheet-carrying means are of varying depths so as to accommodate sheets on which it is desired to type the same data simultaneously, said sheets having different distances from their lower edges to the lines on which the data is to be typed.

3. An attachment adapted to be mounted on a typewriter carriage having the usual rotatable platen mounted thereon, to convert the typewriter into a front feed machine comprising in combination: a flexible form sheet-carrying member, a base assembly, means to mount said base assembly on the carriage, guiding and clamping means for said member positioned on the forward face of the base, guiding and anchoring means for said member secured to the rear face of the base, said flexible sheet-carrying member having one end held by aforesaid anchoring means and extending between the rear and forward guiding means, beneath the clamping means and being of such a length as to extend down under and around the platen, and means on the free end of said member to engage and hold a form sheet.

4. The device as described in claim 3 wherein the flexible form sheet-carrying means comprises a flexible carrier having a loop section on one end adapted to surround the anchoring means, and multiple pockets of varying depths on the opposite end, these pockets being adapted to carry form sheets or similar items on Which it is desired to type the same data simultaneously, said form sheets having different distances from the lower edges to the lines on which the data is to be typed.

5. A typewriter attachment adapted to convert the ordinary typewriter into a front-feed device comprising in combination: a base plate, means to mount the plate on the carriage of a typewriter behind the platen thereof, a U-shaped bracket adapted to fit down over the upper edge of said base plate, a pair of longitudinally spaced arms carried on the forward face of said U-shaped bracket, a cross rod mounted between the outer extremities of said arms, a clamping bar rotatably carried between the inner extremities of said arms adjacent the U-shaped bracket, an operating lever secured to one end of said clamping bar to rotate same, a pair of longitudinally spaced brackets having apertures therein mounted on the rear face of said base, an anchor rod mounted in said apertures between said brackets, means on said brackets for adjusting and locking said anchor rod in a fixed position, and a flexible draft-carrier having an end formed in a loop adapted to fit over aforementioned rod and the other end having a plurality of pockets of various depths extending entirely across the width of said draft-carrier.

5. An attachment adapted to convert the ordinary typewriter into a front feed device especially useful in making out bank drafts wherein a ledger sheet is fed under and around the platen so as to position it in the typewriter in the manner of a second sheet for normal typing to receive a carbon copy of the data typed on the draft, comprising in combination: a flexible draft-carrier, a base plate, means to mount the base plate on the typewriter, clamping means mounted on the forward face of said base plate, means for operating the clamp-ing means, and an anchoring means mounted on the rear face of the base plate, the aforesaid flexible draft-carrier having an end formed in a loop adapted to fit Over the anchoring means and the other end having a plurality of pockets of different depths, said carrier extending upwardly from the anchoring means over the upper edge of the base plate, down the forward face of the base plate under the clamping means and under and around the platen, the ledger sheet being positioned between the platen and the carrier, relative movement between the ledger sheet and the flexible carrier being accomplished by holding the flexible carrier in fixed position by the aforementioned clamping means and rotating the platen to feed the ledger sheet, whereby data being typed on the draft is simultaneously applied to a selected line of the ledger sheet.

FLOYD J. KAVANAUGH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,321,557 Sampson Nov. 11, 1919 2,093,578 Smith Sept. 21, 1937 

